It is obvious in hindsight that Obama’s strategy for getting healthcare reform passed was a colossal waste of time. Although there is still a decent chance that a comprehensive bill will get passed (we should know very soon), the botched process has taken a tremendous toll on the President’s agenda and both his and the Democratic Party’s approval ratings.
The reform package that the President put forth largely mirrors the Senate version, with a few modifications to make it more progressive and palpable to House Democrats. But because so many concessions were made to try to attract Republican support, the plan has been significantly watered down (e.g., no public option, despite its great popularity both with the public and with healthcare economists), and the Republicans have had ample time to demonize elements of the bill and sow confusion (with the help of a negligent media that by and large has parroted the Republicans’ lies instead of calling them out for their deceitfulness).
Not only has the plan been weakened and no Republican support gained. The process has dragged on for so long, and cost Obama so much political capital, that the other major elements of his agenda—financial regulatory reform and climate change legislation—have been largely stalled, and now face much tougher going. If the Democrats had delivered on healthcare in the summer of 2009 their political fortunes would be much brighter now, and Scott Brown likely would not have been elected in Massachusetts.
There is little doubt that high unemployment is largely responsible for the Democrats’ misfortunes, and there is little they can do it about in the short-term. Even so, a victory on healthcare months ago would’ve provided millions of Americans with tangible improvements in their economic security—e.g., limits on total payments to medical insurers and no denials for pre-existing conditions—and allowed Obama to focus on job creation much sooner. The $15 billion jobs bill that just passed could’ve been a $100 billion package back in September.
Did Obama really believe he could help craft a bipartisan healthcare compromise, or did he try so hard because cooperation between the parties was such an integral part of his campaign? We’ll find out years from now, when the details of Obama’s first year are released.
Regardless of what he once might have thought, he clearly realizes now that substantive bipartisanship is not possible; he realizes that the voters elected him and large Democratic majorities to get things done. It was refreshing, at the end of last Thursday’s healthcare summit, to hear him tell Republicans that it’s his job to enact the policies he campaigned on, and that voters will get their chance this fall to accept or reject them. This is how democracy is supposed to work: the party in power gets to enact its ideas, and if voters don’t like them they can vote them out.
It is impossible to know what the political landscape would look like if Obama had entered office with this mindset, but it is understandable why he felt the need to try to “change the nature of politics” as he promised he would. Given the disastrous 1994 healthcare battle, delegating the responsibility to Congress seemed to make sense; but it’s clear now that he turned too much power over to the legislators, and exerted far too little leadership.
What matters most at this point is finishing the job, however disappointing the final product may be. Liberals and progressives can take heart knowing that major social legislation often starts out well short of the ideal, yet grows stronger over time. Both Social Security and Medicare followed this pattern. Passing comprehensive healthcare reform, whatever its flaws, would still be a momentous achievement.
Activists should keep their eyes on the prize.
There is much work to be done on other fronts, and nothing breeds success like success.
Jason Scorse